NEW YORK, Feb. 13, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony
Music Entertainment has completed a historic deal with Philadelphia
International Records, securing global ownership of all recordings made for
PIR, the groundbreaking hit-making label founded by music icons Kenneth Gamble
and Leon Huff in 1971.
The
landmark deal adds all post-1975 PIR recordings to the PIR titles already owned
by SME, reuniting the entirety of the Philadelphia International Recordings
catalog under a single global licensing and reissue entity.
In late
2013, Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of SME, made a number of PIR
titles available in the digital realm, including Essentials collections by The
O'Jays, Teddy Pendergrass and Lou Rawls as well as various artists anthologies—Golden
Gate Groove: The Sound of Philadelphia in San Francisco and The Sound of
Philadelphia: Gamble & Huff's Greatest Hits—mapping the breadth of the
Sound of Philadelphia, one of the most influential and abiding catalogs of
soul/pop music ever recorded.
In 2014,
Legacy will be offering a series of new physical and digital releases created
from the PIR catalog including a definitive Philadelphia International Records
box, budget single artist anthology titles, 12" and 7" vinyl replica
collectibles and more.
The
first round of these new PIR titles will be released in the UK on April 21,
2014 and will include single CD best-of collections from Teddy Pendergrass, Lou
Rawls, The Three Degrees, The Intruders, The O'Jays, Billy Paul and Harold
Melvin & The Blue Notes to be issued on the Camden line.
The UK
PIR spring launch will center on the release of a 20 CD Philadelphia
International Records box set containing:
1.Harold
Melvin & The Blue Notes - Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
2.Back
Stabbers – The O'Jays
3.360
Degrees of Billy Paul – Billy Paul
4.Save
The Children – The Intruders
5.The
Three Degrees - The Three Degrees
6.Ship
Ahoy – The O'Jays
7.Love
Is The Message – MFSB
8.Keep
Smilin' - Bunny Sigler
9.Wake
Up Everybody – Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
10.All
Things In Time – Lou Rawls
11.Life
On Mars - Dexter Wansel
12.The
Jacksons – the Jacksons
13.Teddy
Pendergrass – Teddy Pendergrass
14.Jean
Carn – Jean Carn
15.The
Jones Girls - Jones Girls
16.Edwin
Birdsong - Edwin Birdsong
17.McFadden
and Whitehead – McFadden and Whitehead
18.When
You Hear Lou You've Heard It All – Lou Rawls
19.I'm
In Love Again – Patti LaBelle
20.Life
is A Song Worth Singing – Teddy Pendergrass
Each
title in the lift-top box comes in a sleeve replicating the original album
artwork.
About
Philadelphia International Records and Gamble and Huff:
Gamble
& Huff's Philadelphia International Records became birthplace, incubator
and launching pad for the Philly Soul sound aka " The Sound of Philadelphia
(TSOP)", which was a unique blend of R&B rhythms, sweet soul vocals,
deep funk grooves, pulsing horn charts and lush string arrangements with
melodic structures combining elements of pop, jazz and world music.
With a
stable core of artists led by the O'Jays, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes,
Billy Paul, MFSB and the Three Degrees, Gamble & Huff co-founded
Philadelphia International Records and began creating monster hits from nearly
the first day of its inception in 1971 and continued to record,collaborate and
produce major hits with a galaxy of stars from the pop, rock, soul and jazz
universes, including Michael Jackson and the Jacksons, Elton John, Lou Rawls,
Teddy Pendergrass, Patti LaBelle, Aretha Franklin, the Spinners, the
Stylistics, the Delfonics, Dusty Springfield, Jerry Butler, Wilson Pickett,
LaBelle, Archie Bell & the Drells, the Soul Survivors, Laura Nyro, the
Trammps, McFadden & Whitehead, Phyllis Hyman and Grover Washington Jr and
many more.
The
label produced some of the world's greatest hit songs such as " Love
Train", "If You Don't Know Me by Now", "For The Love Of
Money,""Don't Leave Me This Way," "Me and Mrs Jones",
"Enjoy Yourself," "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me," "Only
the Strong Survive" "You'll Never Find a Love Like Mine"
"Ain't No Stoppin Us Now" and "TSOP" (better known as the
"Soul Train" theme) and many other Top ten Billboard hits over the
past 50 years. The PIR Catalog has some of the most sampled R&B catalogue
in the world, appearing on recordings by artists such as Jay-Z, Kanye West,
Mary J Bli. Blige, Destiny Child, Usher, T.I., Chrisette Michele, Cam'ron, Ja
Rule, Jaheim, Avant and many more.
Legendary
producers and songwriters Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff (Gamble & Huff) are
among the most prolific professional songwriters of all time, having written
and produced over 3,500 songs within 50 years, an output rivaling such famed
songwriting teams as Lennon-McCartney, Jagger-Richards and
Holland-Dozier-Holland. They are enshrined in American "fabric of
music" with a massive catalogue that includes numerous pop #1 hits,
R&B #1 hits, 100 gold and platinum records that have resulted in Grammy and
BMI Songwriter Awards.
As one
of the most requested Sync Licensing Catalogues, the PIR/Gamble Huff recordings
and songs have been featured prominently in television programs ("The
Apprentice," "Cold Case"), films ("American Hustle,"
"The Nutty Professor") and advertising spots (Verizon, Chevrolet, Coors
Light, Old Navy, The Gap, Office Max) for more than 30 years, Gamble &
Huff's songs have entered the musical DNA of contemporary culture. In fact, one
of their songs is played on the radio somewhere in the world every 13.5
minutes.
Gamble
& Huff have been prestigiously
inducted and honored by several Music Halls of Fame including the
Grammy-National Academy of Recording
Arts and Sciences Trustees, Songwriters Hall of Fame, Producers Hall of Fame,
Dance Music Hall of Fame, R & B Hall of Fame, Dance Music Hall of Fame . In
2008, Gamble & Huff were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as
the first recipients of the newly created Ahmet Ertegun Award. These music
icons are recognized around the world for their contribution to the entire
fabric of popular music, joining luminaries like Berry Gordy, Quincy Jones,
George Gershwin & Ira Gershwin, The Beatles, and Frank Sinatra.
In 2005,
Gamble & Huff appeared on American Idol in a show devoted entirely to their
music and in 2010 were presented honorary doctor of music degrees from Berklee
College of Music.
Their
songs also have been covered by a myriad of artists including Elvis Presley,
the Rolling Stones, Bette Midler, Michael Buble, Martina McBride, Seal, Simply
Red, Johnny Mathis, Lesley Gore, Donny & Marie, Thelma Houston, the Brand
New Heavies and recently, Rod Stewart, who sings four Gamble & Huff
classics on his 2009 album, Soulbook.
Gamble
& Huff created and are credited for
launching one of the most celebrated and historic songwriting partnerships that
spawned into a sophisticated sound lovingly crafted in the studio by some of
the 20th century's most influential producers and studio teams -- including
Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, Thom Bell, Linda Creed, Gene McFadden and John
Whitehead, Bunny Sigler, Dexter Wansel, Bobby Martin, MFSB Orchestra, Baker,
Harris and Young, Joe Tarsia (Sigma Sound) and others -- Philly Soul set the
stage for disco, smooth jazz, adult contemporary music and more.
Gamble
and Huff will be celebrating their 50th Anniversary starting in the fall of
2014 with their projected release of their Autobiographical Book and the 2015
launch of their Theatrical Play on their historic Life Story and creation of
one of America's great music catalogues
known as "The Sound of Philadelphia".
~ Legacy Recordings
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